Mike – What in the world has happened to this team? They were flying high and undefeated and playing great defense and making perfect second-half adjustments to put teams away, and then the bye week hit and it’s like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” — like we’ve got a completely different team on the field. What happened?

— Doug Van Doren, Los Angeles

Doug – I keep going back to what Philip Rivers said after the Broncos defeated his Chargers 34-23 at San Diego on Oct. 19. At that point the Broncos were 6-0 and the Chargers were 2-3.

Rivers was asked if he held on to hope there would be a repeat of the 2008 season, when the 5-8 Chargers needed just three games to catch, and therefore pass, the 8-5 Broncos for the AFC West title.

“That team out there is a different Denver team in the sense that they aren’t going to fall apart,” Rivers said on Oct. 19. “That’s a team that’s here to stay.”

I clung to that comment because Philip and I saw the same thing. Specifically, the Broncos had too great a defense, and just enough offense, and way too many veterans, to repeat their collapse of 2008.

And yet the Broncos haven’t just lost four in a row, they’ve lost those four games by an average of 20 points. That’s not just perplexing. That’s disturbing.

I don’t have any answers, Doug, just a long list of problems. If it helps, I do think the Broncos will bounce out of this. It might not be Thanksgiving night against the Giants — although I wouldn’t be surprised if the short week does help the Broncos rebound. I’m saying the Broncos will go into their final game against the Kansas City Chiefs with a playoff berth at stake.

Since he played college football at Northern Colorado, how did Vincent Jackson slip past the Broncos to the Chargers?

— Mitch, Greeley

Mitch – Even in such isolated places as Greeley, Colo. — otherwise known as home to the Monfort brothers — 31 NFL teams besides the nearby Broncos have access. Film goes a long way these days.

Jackson was drafted late in the second round, with the No. 61 overall pick, in the 2005 draft. That year, the Broncos didn’t have a first-round pick. Their first pick wasn’t until No. 56 overall, where they selected Darrent Williams.

For two seasons, Williams was a far more productive cornerback than Jackson was a receiver. Jackson had three catches as a rookie, 27 in his second season when he began to hear whispers that he was a second-round bust. He is an example of why any judgment of the Broncos’ current rookie class would be premature. Jackson didn’t break out until last year, his fourth season.

As for Darrent Williams, it still shakes me to even type his name. May he rest in peace.

The TV announcers brought up a good point: Why play an injured Kyle Orton while trailing by so many points in the fourth quarter against the Chargers?

— Crystal, Denver

Crystal – That’s a fair question. But it also would have been unfair, maybe even inhumane, of Broncos coach Josh McDaniels to ask Chris Simms to go back in for garbage time after giving him the quick hook.

One reason why coaches hate to change quarterbacks in midgame or midseason is because they know that once you change quarterbacks, it’s hard to go back.

Geoff – There is a website for voting: FansChoice.com. But I don’t think it will have much pull. The 44-member Hall of Fame voting group has proven over and over again that this is not a popularity contest.

It can be political in that one voter with a convincing speech can sway the room. The process lends itself to one writer canvassing support for a player one year in return for going along with another writer’s candidate another year.

But I don’t think that happens nearly as much as people think. Those voters take their responsibility seriously. They do their homework. Denver’s representative is The Denver Post’s own Jeff Legwold, who watches film and conducts his own research on each of the 17 finalists before he even gets in the room on the eve of the Super Bowl.

Having said that, if a candidate like Tim Brown or Shannon Sharpe gets the third most fan votes behind Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith, the voters may see that and go, “Hmmm.”

What can Bronco fans do to raise awareness among the Pro Football Hall Of Fame Board of Selectors to help get Floyd Little in? Floyd is the reason I am a Bronco fan for life.

— Steven Henricksen, Illinois

Steven – Cross your fingers. Say a prayer. Otherwise, all Broncos fans can do is wait until the final Hall of Fame vote on Feb. 6 in Miami. Floyd Little is all but in after he and Dick LeBeau were pushed forward by the Hall of Fame seniors committee. This means Little has no competition other than his own merits. The 15 modern-era finalists will compete for up to five spots for election. There are two other Hall of Fame spots for the two senior nominees. All they need is 80 percent “yeah’s” for election.

Since 1998, 16 of the 18 senior nominees have eventually received the necessary number of votes for elections.

Howdy, Mike. I was curious of your thoughts in regards to Mike Shanahan. From what we’ve all heard, Mike is a sure bet to land a new coaching job next year, whether it be Washington or Dallas or whoever. But I am a little worried about something. Do you think he’ll hire Rick Dennison or Bobby Turner as part of his new staff? Those are two guys I really just can’t live without.

— Jeff Hawkins, Bowling Green, Ky.

Jeff – A justifiable concern. If Shanahan does get a head coaching gig as expected for next season, I do think he would offer jobs to Dennison and Turner. Both worked the first 14 seasons of their 15-year assistant coaching stints with the Broncos under Shanahan. I’m not sure they would go with Shanahan, though, in part because after 15 years, both Dennison and Turner have established strong family roots in the Denver area. Dennison and his wife Shannon have five children, including 5-year-old twin daughters and a 1-year-old son. Turner and his wife Kimberly have three daughters.

I’m guessing that before Dennison and Turner jump, Mrs. Dennison and Mrs. Turner would first have to say “go.”

Why is the Wildcat, and other versions of the formation, getting so much attention? And why has it been occasionally effective? It’s just two guys with one ball.

— Tom, Palmer, Alaska

Tom – I published your letter because for the past year or so, I’ve asked the same questions. The “wildcat” has become a bigger deal than it deserves. But what makes it fascinating is it’s a rare combination of uniqueness to the NFL but a throwback to old-time, schoolyard football. Anytime a quarterback splits out to the receiver position, a fan in the stands will point toward the field and go: “Look, the quarterback is split out to the receiver spot.”

And I’m as baffled as you are that it works. It does seem to me like it works for a couple plays or three because the alignment causes defenders to wonder what the heck’s going on. But it rarely works for a sustained period.

Mike Klis is in his fifth season of covering the Broncos for The Denver Post. He previously covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball for 15 years. Pose a Broncos- or NFL-related question for the Broncos Mailbag.

Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998 before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.

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